


The Stars Pale When Compared to Your Light

by Queerbutstillhere



Category: Batman (Comics), DCU (Comics), Green Lantern (Comics)
Genre: Aliens, Alternate Universe - Aliens, Alternate Universe - Future, Alternate Universe - Space, Astronauts, Bruce Wayne is a Good Parent, Bruce Wayne is an astronaut, Fluff, Gift Exchange, Gift Fic, M/M, hal jordan is a glowy alien
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-16
Updated: 2021-01-16
Packaged: 2021-03-14 14:34:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,355
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28796946
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Queerbutstillhere/pseuds/Queerbutstillhere
Summary: “I mean. . . they’re greedy and mean and rude. Humans lie and steal and hurt others.”“But. . . you’re not like that?”Bruce sighed, looking away, feeling a stab of guilt. “Yes I am.”“No.” Haliad turned to face him fully, grabbing his hand, but holding it more by the wrist instead. “No you are not. You are kind, and caring. Are smart, giving, nice.”-Or that one fic where Bruce is a scientist with the Earth Space Program and Hal is a glowy green alien from Oa.
Relationships: Hal Jordan/Bruce Wayne
Comments: 3
Kudos: 68
Collections: Batlantern Exchange 2021





	The Stars Pale When Compared to Your Light

**Author's Note:**

  * For [redhoodsbf](https://archiveofourown.org/users/redhoodsbf/gifts).



> Hey guys! This fun little fic is part of Onipilot's batlantern gift exchange! Check them out on tumblr if you don't know them, because they do AMAZING batlantern art (they're also on tumblr at Gothamcoast). 
> 
> This is for meatthefuckingcleaver on tumblr! (I'm really hoping I got your ao3 right, if not yell at me and i'll get it changed quickly!) I hope you enjoy!!

Traveling through space was fairly lonely. Especially now. Bruce had been traveling with some of his kids previously, but he had dropped them off at one of the most recently established stations on the outer rim of the Ottzello Galaxy. Earth had finally achieved space travel outside of the Milky Way Galaxy, and they had been slowly expanding outwards. They’d learned pretty quickly that a lot of the other species weren’t entirely fond of making friends. But there were a couple that had been excited to meet and investigate each other. One of these was the Shorae, a group of highly intelligent quadrupedal beings. They were completely smooth, with bright purple skin. Bruce still had no idea how they spoke, or how they ate, but they were incredibly inventive and good at building, hence how they’d help create a Space Station that both species could survive on.

The kids who had come, Dick, Tim and Duke, were all going to stay and study aboard the station. Bruce was traveling to the Shorae’s home planet, he was part of a research group that had been given permission to investigate the planet and its inhabitants. 

He had been flying for what he _assumed_ had been a few days now. The ship he was traveling in was designed to mimic earth days, lights turning on and off in 24 hour cycles, but still he lost track of time. The spaceship was a bit of a mess, but he was lonely and sad and tired of being stuck in a tin can by himself.

He was a few days of travel away from his destination when the ship started freaking out. It’s alarms started blaring just as he was about to fall asleep, so he hopped up and sprinted back to the helm, fearing he was wandering into an asteroid field or that something was malfunctioning.

Instead he found that the ship had picked up an emergency beacon. He couldn’t understand what language it was, but the ship had picked up coordinates, and it wasn’t too far out of the way of the Shorae planet. So he plugged them in as a first stop, and went back to bed. 

He got there a few days later. It looked like a ship had died in orbit around a small moon. The Shorae had shared a lot of the information they had on interstellar species, but Bruce didn’t recognize this ship model from any of the databases he had scanned. He was cautious, of course, he didn’t want to get killed or blown up, but he also didn’t want to leave anyone stranded if he could avoid it, besides it might offer him some opportunities to investigate some new species. 

He activated the ship sensors, trying to figure out if there was anyone inside the ship or if it had been fully abandoned.

_One Life Form Detected. Atmosphere 40% Oxygen._

Bruce stared at the data screen. He hit a few buttons, trying to send a comm link over to the strange ship. It beeped a few times, but never connected. He tried this a couple times before giving up. He lined up their access port with his, going and getting his space suit on. They hadn’t changed much from the old NASA days, but they were less bulky, though it did still look like he was wearing a fish bowl on his head. Until he got over into the other ship and could get a more accurate read on their atmosphere, he wasn’t risking taking the suit off.

Once he had gathered all the appropriate tools he’d need, and had grabbed a translator that the Shorae had gifted him, he walked over to the access hatch, opened it and crawled through to the other side. It only took a little bit of messing around with a small control panel to figure out how to open it. The door spun away, and Bruce hesitated a moment before stepping inside. 

“Hello?” He called, looking around, hand near his blaster just in case.

It was mostly dark, a yellow light was pulsing, occasionally lighting up the ship. Bruce flicked on the flashlights on his helmet and carefully started exploring, looking around. The ship was mostly open, a singular door blocking off the back of the ship. And so far it looked totally empty. Bruce walked over to the con of the ship, pressing a few buttons and finding that the entire system was disabled. So he turned away from it, carefully exploring around again and confirming that the main part of the ship was empty. He did a few quick scans, finding that the oxygen content was lower, but a humanoid would survive breathing this air.

Next he needed to search the back compartment. He was sure if there was anyone aboard this ship they’d be back there. So he cautiously opened the door, hand still on his blaster. Inside, the room was glowing green just slightly, as well as the orange flashing lights. It was clearly a sort of barrack room, with a few little shelves that looked like beds on either wall, and the back wall had little cabinet type doors.

“Hello?” He said softly. 

The green glow was coming from the bottom left bed, and when Bruce got closer, he found that there was a form laying in it. They were green, shaped a bit like a triangle, either they didn’t have a face Bruce was used to or they were facing the other direction. He hesitated a moment, and then walked over.

“Excuse me, are you okay?”

He didn’t get a response, so he reached a hand out, gently touching the figure. Where he assumed he should make contact, he did not, sinking through a layer of what must’ve been an even bright glow, and then touching a very soft, warm surface.

They glowed brightly for a moment, and then in a bit of a flash, they were suddenly standing behind Bruce. Bruce slowly stood and turned, holding his hands away from him enough to show he wasn’t reaching for anything.

A soft chirping noise came from them, and instantly the translator on Bruce’s sleeve started working, he could see it trying to figure out what language that was. After a moment it beeped once and then replayed the chirping and then in english.

“Who you.”

Bruce smiled softly. Looking at them now, they had very light gray eyes, that were more just orbs of light, rather than eyes like any other species he had seen before. They didn’t have obvious ears or a mouth, but they tilted their head as the translator worked.

“My name is Bruce, I’m an Earthian. I heard your distress beacon.”

The translator chirped all this back. They paused for a bit, and then spoke.

“I am from Oa. I am a Latsar. I am Haliad.”

“I’ve never met anyone like you before,” Bruce told them, cautiously stepping forwards. 

Haliad just tilted their head the other direction. Slowly, they morphed into a more humanoid shape, still glowing and triangular, but now with arms and what could vaguely be described as legs.

“And I’ve never seen anything like you.”

“What’s wrong with your ship?”

Haliad turned and _floated_ into the main part of the ship. The yellow lights made them look an odd color.

“Engines have been destroyed.”

“What happened?”

Haliad’s glow started pulsing slightly, and he bobbed up and down. Whatever he chirped out, the translator couldn’t understand, because nothing came out of it. Bruce waited for a moment, then glanced around.

“Do you want a ride? I was headed towards the Shorae, but I can stop you off some place, if Oa is in this system?”

“Oa is far away. I will go with you to the Shorae.”

“Do you need a space suit to come to my ship?”

“I do not.”

Bruce hesitated, looking at this strange alien, and having second thoughts. Maybe this wasn’t a good idea. Dying out here wasn’t exactly what he’d hoped for. He still had things he wanted to do in his life, wanted to see his kids get married, wanted to watch them all grow up. But he’d already dug this hole for himself, so he’d see it through.

He gave Haliad some privacy to gather a few things from their ship and say goodbye to it, and then led them over to his shuttle. They looked around at it.

“Large,” they chirped, their glow dimming a bit for a minute, then sparking right back up.

“Yeah, it’s meant for a bigger crew.”

“Only you?”

“Only me. I had my kids with me a bit ago, but I dropped them off at station Earth shares with the Shorae.”

“You have offspring?”

“Yep. Six kids.”

“Are Earthians that proficient in reproduction?”

Bruce spluttered a bit, pulling off his helmet and returning it to it’s storage. 

“No. They’re not all biologically mine.”

A soft chirp that sounded like an “oh” came from Haliad. They seemed to be watching Bruce as he pulled off the space suit. Once he was finished, he readjusted his uniform and then turned.

“Here, you can put your stuff in here. That’s my bed, but you can have any other one.”

Haliad nodded a bit, and Bruce left them to sort their things, going to readjust the ships heading and continue on to Shorae.  
  
  
  


After three days of traveling with Haliad, they made it to Shorae successfully. The Shorae seemed anxious when Bruce got there, and he was quick to discover it was because they had expected him two days previously. The reroute to pick up Haliad had cost him more time than he thought.

The Shorae were startled to see Haliad, but welcomed them none-the-less. They had apparently only had minimal contact with the Latsar, and as they explained to Bruce, there were actually multiple species that lived on Oa, which was apparently a planet in the Phradox Galaxy, so they were quite startled that Haliad had traveled so far in what they claimed was a short time. They almost immediately sent a vessel out to retrieve their vessel. Bruce and Haliad were both given lodging in what Bruce could only call their main consulate building. They had an official name for it, but he couldn’t quite pronounce or remember it. He and Haliad’s rooms were right next to each other, and they frequently ran into each other.

Bruce wasted no time getting to work with the Shorae. He wanted to do what he had to do and then get back to Earth, to his kids. He quickly adjusted to the Shorae day’s. Fourteen hours of sunlight, twenty hours of night. He had learned a while ago that he only needed a very minimal amount of sleep, and that was very helpful working on foreign planets.

At the rare times he wasn’t working - The Shorae had strict religious schedules that forced him to take several hour breaks during the late afternoon - he found himself ending up with Haliad. Whether it was spending time in each other's rooms, just chatting, or exploring the planet together. Bruce wasn’t sent on this mention to discover information about the Latsar, but he was learning almost as much about Haliad’s species as he was about the Shorae. Haliad seemed to love talking to him, even though it seemed the Shorae could directly speak their language.

Haliad told him all about Oa, how it was a safe haven for people who’s worlds had been destroyed, and about the entities who lived there. About the Corps that helped rescue worlds in trouble. They were a part of this corp, and that’s how they ended up so far from their home planet. They explained that their specific species didn’t actually need any form of oxygen, but the atmosphere did directly affect them in certain ways, like they would glow less or different shades. Oxygen apparently was what made them glow green, and have the confusing layer of light.

And as they spent more time together, Bruce was slowly starting to understand the Latsar language more and more. Though the chirping humming tongue often confused him, due to it being more like singing than actual talking, he was getting better at knowing what Haliad was saying before the translator read it out to him.

While Bruce was working with the Shorae, Haliad was working on their ship, slowly getting it repaired, letting the Shorae examine it and research its technology.

Some of Bruce’s favorite time with Haliad was spent in the gardens. Shorae gardens were nothing like gardens on Earth. Most of what could be considered their flora and fauna were wildly varying in colors. There were some “plants” that were bright blue, or other plants that were striped neon pink and soft yellow. It felt like something that would have been in a kids sci-fi novel. Almost comically colored. But each of the plants were unique and more importantly, living. The Gardens were carefully tended after, and there were always a couple caretakers lingering around, quick to snap at Bruce or Haliad if they strayed off the carefully marked paths.

“What is Earth?”

Bruce glanced over at Haliad. They were sitting together in the gardens, it had been a long day of work, and he was enjoying the quiet time with Haliad. 

“What do you mean?” He asked in return, turning to face them on the bench, putting an arm on the backrest.

“Earth. What is it like?”

“Oh! It’s very. . . well. . . I dunno, there’s a lot of different areas. A lot of it is very industrial now though- a lot of buildings and factories and workplaces. But, there’s also a lot of green, and the nature preserves are absolutely _gorgeous_.”

“What are nature preserves?”

“They’re like this garden, but really really big, and generally less cared for. Humanity destroyed a lot of the natural environment in the race for technological advancements, but there has always been an attempt to preserve some of what once was.”

“Oh,” Haliad said softly, then looked away from Bruce, around the garden again.

“What about Oa? What’s it like?”

“Large. Empty, yet full. There are parts of planet that have not been touched in thousands of years, often explorers do not make it back. The rest of it feels. . . like being in room full of people, you can barely move without bumping shoulders.”

“Sounds stressful,” Bruce said softly. 

“It is nice, I think. To not be alone. Especially for those of us who spends so much time alone.”

Bruce reached out and gently touched Haliad’s shoulder. They glanced over and then shrugged a bit.

“Very different than Shorea,” they murmured.

“Shorae is a uh,,, very _interesting_ planet,” Bruce confessed. “And by that, I mean a little weird.”

Hal chirped out a laugh, glowing a little brighter at Bruce.

“That very true.”

Bruce couldn’t help but smile back, his hand still lingering on Haliad’s shoulder.

After a few weeks, Bruce was in the labs with another human researcher, Barry Allen, and a couple of the Shorae, when Haliad floated in. Barry had arrived just a few days ago and had only met Haliad once, and looked rather surprised to see them. Bruce glanced up and instantly flicked on the translator, smiling brightly at them.

“Hello, Haliad.”

“Bruce,” Haliad replied, glowing just a bit brighter.

Bruce had come to learn this meant Haliad was happy.

“Haliad, you remember Dr. Allen?”

Haliad turned to Barry and nodded a bit.

“May I talk privately, Bruce?”

Bruce frowned, but nodded, setting down his data tablet. He followed Haliad back out, and down into one of the private lounges. 

“What’s up?” Bruce asked, reaching up and pushing a hand through his hair. He needed a shower, but it was too late to think of that now.

“I’m leaving.”

Bruce opened his mouth to respond, and then closed it, blinking. 

“Oh.”

Haliad was flickering just slightly. “I have duty to Oa, new orders were received.”

“I understand,” Bruce reassured, reaching out and gently touching Haliad’s shoulder.

Haliad was silent for a moment, blinking at Bruce. “I would like to meet with you again.”

“Yeah. Yeah I’d like that too. How long do you think?”

“Unknown. Mission may only be few days, may be few cycles.”

Bruce let out a soft sigh. 

“Okay. Well. If I’m not here when you get done, I’ll either be at the Station on the outskirts of the Ottzello galaxy - the Shorae can give you coordinates before you leave - or Earth.”

A soft hum came from Haliad, which wasn’t translated into anything. Haliad reached up, a hand wrapping around Bruce’s wrist, then gently slipping into his hand, pressing their palms together.

“I have enjoyed the time we spent.”

Bruce nodded, smiling sadly. He was sad. He enjoyed Haliad’s company, even past learning more about the other species. He enjoyed talking with them, enjoyed sitting in silence, and enjoyed exploring the Shorae planet. He felt comfortable and safe around Haliad.

“Come visit,” he whispered, pressing into Haliad’s hand a little harder.

“I will,” Haliad whispered back.

Bruce said goodbye to Haliad that evening, watching as their vessel launched again, taking off into space, off to complete whatever dangerous mission.  
  
  
  


* * *

It was four months later when Bruce next saw Haliad. He was all the way back on Earth at that point. He had spent, in total, three months on Shorae, then another month on the station before going back to his home planet. He still worked a lot, but now his evenings were spent with his kids. Damian and Cass still lived with him, and Jason wasn’t far away, and came by frequently enough.

He thought of Haliad occasionally, and when he did, it was always tinged with a bit of sadness. He missed them. He wished things had happened differently. He had enjoyed his time with them so much, and he suspected had he been able to stay with them longer, things would have turned out differently. He never expected to have developed feelings for another species, but he sure was darn close.

And then one day, he was walking back to the research labs from lunch. He had eaten with his cousin, Kate, catching up after she had returned from a long exploration mission. He had just walked in the front doors of the labs when someone called to him.

“Mr. Wayne!”

He stopped and turned, looking for the voice and finding a security officer walking towards him. He froze.

“Yes?”

“Would you follow me, please?”

Bruce hesitated and then nodded, shifting his bag and following the security guard. He was led through the labs, to the admirals office. 

The guard gestured to the door, so Bruce walked over, rapping his knuckles on the outside. After a moment, he heard a call to enter, so he stepped inside, closing it behind him. Instantly he saw the reason he had been summoned. He completely ignored Admiral Prince, mouth falling open.

“Haliad!” He exclaimed, eyes wide. 

Hal lit up like a light bulb, immediately floating over to Bruce.

“Mr. Wayne,” Admiral Prince said, but she sounded amused more than anything.

“Oh fuc- Admiral Prince, my apologies.”

“Quite alright.” Diana had her fingers steepled under her nose. “I take it you know our visitor here?”

“Yes! Haliad. They’re of the Latsar species, from the planet Oa. We met while I was on the way to Shorae, and we spent quite some time together while I was there.”

Haliad nodded to confirm this. 

“I have come to visit,” Haliad said, a translator chirping this out from somewhere. Bruce assumed it was on Diana’s desk.

“I’m glad,” Bruce answered, practically beaming at Haliad.

“We’ve already talked, so you’re free to go with Mr. Wayne here.”

“Thank you.” Haliad gave Diana a quick bow and then turned to Bruce, looking excited.

Bruce grinned, turned and saluted Diana. “Admiral Prince.”

“Go on Bruce. Go home for the day,” she said, holding out the translator. Bruce grabbed it quickly.

“Thank you, Admiral.”

He turned and led Haliad out, back to his small office so he could grab a few things.

“When did you get here?”

“Not long, had to convince military to let in.”

“Yeah, they probably were pretty alarmed by your ship.”

Haliad nodded in agreement. Bruce couldn’t help but grin up at them.

“This is my office,” Bruce told them, opening the door and leading them in.

“It is large.”

“Well, I share it with a couple other scientists.”

Haliad nodded, following Bruce over to his desk. Bruce quickly grabbed a few things he had left before going to lunch, packing them into his bag quickly. He made sure he had everything before looking up at Haliad again, instantly smiling. 

The office was empty for now, which Bruce was glad for, because it gave him a few minutes alone with Haliad.

“I have,” Haliad paused, glancing away. “I have missed you.”

Bruce gave a little nervous chuckle. “I missed you too. I’m really- it’s good to see you.”

“I wished to visit sooner. Was held back by duties.”

“Yeah, it’s okay.”

They just stood there and looked at each other for a bit. Then Bruce cleared his throat and picked up the coffee cup he had brought into work with him.

“Well, you ready to see what Earth is like?”  
  


Haliad had been with them for a few days now. The kids seemed to really like them, and especially enjoyed teaching them about Earth. Haliad was always incredibly confused by every new earth thing they discovered, but they took each thing in stride and seemed to adapt very well.

Late one night, Bruce and Haliad were sitting on the roof of his house. They had spent the day with the kids, and it was amazing to Bruce how much even grumpy Damian had warmed up to Haliad in just a few days. The kids had started calling them Hal, and they seemed to like this, glowing a little brighter every time the name was said. But the more time they spent on Earth, the more Bruce worried about them having to suddenly leave again.

They were sitting arm to arm, it was a little chilly out that night, and Haliad was just slightly warmer than most humans, thus providing some warmth for Bruce. The sky was clear, the stars bright. Bruce was pointing out constellations to Haliad, explaining the legends behind them. Haliad was listening intently, though they spent most of their time looking at Bruce, and not the sky. Bruce was _sure_ his face was turning red.

“So, that one, Cassiopeia, is based off of the legend of a greek queen, she was really uh, vain and boastful.”

“Why did she get a constellation then?”

“Because someone wanted to honor her.”

“Why don’t they rename it then?”

Bruce chuckled. “Humans don’t like changing things.”

Haliad gave a bit of a confused hum, but didn’t say anything else.

“What would you rename it to?”

“I’m not sure. But. . . it would be after someone kind and smart. Someone who deserved it. Not. . . not that queen.”

Bruce snorted, shaking his head just slightly.

“Why do humans not like change?”

“It makes them uncomfortable. They like things to stay the way they always have been. Familiarity makes us feel safe.”

“Is. . . is traveling into space not changing things?”

“Oh well, you see, humans also like to win at competitions, and we’ve always seen space exploration as a race.”

Haliad’s light dimmed slightly, and they sat there staring at the horizon line for a while.

“So. They do not want change, but they still want to compete?”

“Humans are confusing and messed up, Hal. They’re not great.”

Haliad looked over, tilting his head. “What do you mean?”

“I mean. . . they’re greedy and mean and rude. Humans lie and steal and hurt others.”

“But. . . you’re not like that?”

Bruce sighed, looking away, feeling a stab of guilt. “Yes I am.”

“No.” Haliad turned to face him fully, grabbing his hand, but holding it more by the wrist instead. “No you are not. You are kind, and caring. Are smart, giving, nice."

“Hal that’s-”

“What about the children?” Haliad asked. “You take care of these children, are not yours, yet you still care.”

“Well yeah but-”

Hal intertwined their fingers, and Bruce fell quiet. Something about the touch was oddly intimate. He swallowed and glanced up at Haliad, who was focused on him fully.

“Hal. . .”

“I do not know how humans customs work, Bruce. But, I wish to learn.”

He frowned, but didn’t pull away his hand. 

“Learn what?”

Haliad chirped in a way Bruce had learned was them giggling. 

“Latsar customs very different.”

“Customs for what?”

“Courting.”

Bruce’s eyes went wide, and then snapped down to their hands. Courting. Like dating. Like romance.

“Hal, I. . .”

Hal’s eyes also went wide at this, and they started to pull back.

“I was too forward. I am sorry.”

“No! Wait! Just- I. . . don’t know what to say? I’m not. . . don’t go.”

They sat there in silence for a bit, looking at each other. Bruce was mostly staring over Haliad’s shoulder, trying to process this.

He clearly felt something for Haliad. He was just confused as to what. It’s not like he had his usual clues to go off of from dating humans. Haliad was a completely different situation, and hell, Bruce didn’t even know how physically compatible they were. But, he did know a few things. He knew how his heart swelled when Haliad was happy, and he knew how happy _he_ was when Haliad was around. He knew how much he had missed Haliad while he was away.

“I. . . I don’t know how this is going to work, but okay.”

Haliad lit up like a candle, excited little chirps coming from them quickly. Bruce grinned back, and squeezed Haliad’s hand.

“Now you wanna tell me what this means?”

“Oh! The hand clasp is a sign of intimate contact between lovers.”

Bruce spluttered a bit, staring up at a serious Haliad. “Wait but we- on Shorae-”

Haliad ducked their head a bit.

“Whoops?”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! Comments and Kudos are always appreciated! 
> 
> Thanks so much to [Experimental_Muse](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Experimental_Muse/pseuds/Experimental_Muse) for betaing for me! You can check her out here, and on tumblr at [cryptids-and-muses!](https://cryptids-and-muses.tumblr.com/)
> 
> As always you can check me out on tumblr at [Queerbutstillhere](https://queerbutstillhere.tumblr.com/) and [Queerbutstillhere-writes](https://queerbutstillhere-writes.tumblr.com/)


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